After an exhaustingly full and wonderful day yesterday, we slept in til 8 and had a delicious breakfast (muesli, yogurt and fruit has become our daily fare) at the local book exchange. Brett from our Vietnam trip got us hooked on the Bangkok series (somewhat similar to the Millenium books but with a Thai flair) by John Burdett and I've already finished Bangkok 8 (and Erika's taking a breather from Atlas Shrugged to read it now) so was happy to find Bangkok Tattoo which we got for free by exchanging The Help (finished and since I saw the movie first, sorry, but the movie was better) and a beach read that I got in Nha Trang and already finished. Once I finish Committed (Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat, Pray, Love discusses marriage while traveling around SEA, today I read about her in Luang Prabang while I was here!), I'll start on that. Anyhow, you can see that books are fully part of my life (thank you librarian parents) and thus, I felt especially honored to spend two hours at Big Brother Mouse reading and talking with local students, workers and monks who come to practice their English with whichever travelers pop in to their reading room during the morning or evening session. When we arrived, four Lao men were waiting and no other traveller was there (and only one other came about an hour late) so I was already glad we came! The two brothers I spoke to, Non and Big, were 18 and studying at the teachers college but both hoped to be guides. Which means they'd really need to improve their English as all guides need a pretty advanced level of english to get hired but classes can be expensive. So this was an awesome opportunity for them to practice while I answered their questions, discussed their lives and really got to know each other. A monk joined us too and he was 20, spoke very good English and walked about 40 minutes one way on his day off from studies to come practice. Another female joined and was very shy at first but soon we were all chatting away.
Erika was with some older students who asked to practice their science studies with her which explains why I heard words like 'algae' and 'crystallize' coming from their side of the table. The monk shared a lot about his life in the temple as well as his experiences with volunteers who teach at his temple. He wants to be a teacher but may go study at the monk-only university in Chiang Mai after another three more years atthe temple. Overall, it was a great experience and I was happy to donate to their organization (as well as to the provincial library that we visited the day prior which has a whole reading room sponsored by the US embassy in Vientiane).
Luang Prabang Library:
Maybe some day I'll return to sponsor and go along with the village book camps where they bring English and Lao books for the children to keep. Afterwards we checked out of our guesthouse (four nights, two people, $50) and crossed the Nam Khon river on the rickety bamboo bridge to another amazing riverside restaurant and lounge. And 2 for 1 Happy Hour! Which we have learned means each person gets two of the drinks they ordered, not that you each get one and only pay for one total.
Lunch and decent wifi (I'm behind updating because this has been lacking but I can't complain about wifi in a country were not everyone gets fed!) was amazing and as we walked bak to get picked up for our overnight bus to Huay Xai, we both agreed we truly didn't want to leave, a real first in my many recent travels (I've loved many places but I usually am also excited for the next!). 14 hour overnight bus here we come!
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